Wolves scare elk into eating less, contributing to population decline.

Wolves may be partly to blame for the declining elk population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem -- but it's not from predation, a new study finds. It's more likely that fear of wolves has pushed elk to higher-elevation feeding grounds where they eat less food, and as a result have lower birthrates, Brett French of the Billings Gazette reports.

Get the inside scoop in your inbox, free.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletters and never miss an investigation.

Great! You’ve successfully signed up.

Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.

You've successfully subscribed to InvestigateWest.

Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.

Success! Your billing info has been updated.

Your billing was not updated.